Polymeric and inorganic semiconductors offer relatively high quantum efficiencies, as high as 80 percent in the near-infrared and ultraviolet regions, and are much less expensive to fabricate than non-amorphous silicon wafers. An optical fiber and cladding can be designed and fabricated to confine light for transport within ultraviolet and near-IT media, using evanescent waves, and to transmit visible wavelength light for direct lighting. By using polymeric and less expensive and easily processable materials for fabrication, and by designing for optimum solar energy absorption for different solar concentrator configurations, the cost effectiveness of a solar energy conversion system can be increased substantially.
What is needed is one or more solar energy cell conversion configurations that are optimized with respect to choices of one, two or more important parameters, such as light incidence angle, geometric parameters of the conversion material, and choice(s) of conversion materials. Preferably, the materials should have reduced cost, relative to the costs of conventional systems, and the optimal configurations should be straightforward to implement. In addition to molding and casting processes, three dimensional additive manufacturing techniques can be used to implement the desired configurations.